Sweet Autumn
by Kaiishi
Summary: [Sequel to 'Ice Cream, Soda Pop, Cherry On Top] After 8 years, Keiko and Yusuke's liking of eachother seems aparent to everyone but them. Of course, with the dance and everything, everyone's playing matchmaker.
1. Gossip

This is my third Yusuke/Keiko fic. This is kinda like a sequel of 'Ice Cream, Soda Pop, Cherry On Top' and is set in normal times, after Yusuke died and was brought back to life as a Spirit Detective.  
  
~  
  
Keiko sighed, listening to her friends joke with eachother about the upcoming dance. Sure, the Autumn dance was coming, but what's the big deal? She saw no point in going so why did everyone else make such a big deal out of it? Looking down, she caught the glimpse of gold that reminded her so much of Yusuke, even more than being around him almost all the time. It was a bracelet, a simple design of sakuras engraved onto the golden plated metal, but it meant more to Keiko than anything else in the world, but she still wondered just how Yusuke got it.  
  
~!Flashback!~  
  
Keiko stood on the roof of Sarayashiki Junior High, watching the setting sun with mesmerized eyes, hazel glowing with the light given my the waning sun. "Uh, Keiko?" She jumped, turning swiftly to face to talker, relaxing when she realized it was just Yusuke. 'Yes, just Yusuke Urameshi, worst punk in Sarayashiki Junior High and the boy you have a crush on,' her mind taunted, seeming to enjoy the sudden feeling of unsettlement that flowed in Keiko's veins.  
  
"Hi Yusuke," Keiko greeted warmly, smiling face giving no clue of the tumult that raged in her mind. "What brings you up here? I thought you would be going home by now, Yusuke."  
  
Yusuke made a face at the thought, thinking of home made him think of his mother and thinking of his mother reminded him of her drinking problem. "I wanted to give you something," Yusuke stated matter-of-factly, his right hand reaching into his pocket.  
  
"For me, Yusuke?" Keiko looked incredulous. "Why go through the trouble just for me?"  
  
"Because you're my friend," Yusuke said casually, his tone making Keiko's heart drop. 'Yeah, a friend. That's all I'll ever be, won't it, Yusuke?' she thought forlornly, eyes settling on her shoes. "Keiko, close your eyes." The request was gentle in tone, coaxing her into follow its command.  
  
Keiko felt something soft, velvety soft settle in her hands, also feeling warmth touch her palms before drifting away. Opening her hazel optics, Keiko gasped at what lay in her hand. A small box, wrapped in blue velvet, opened to reveal a gold plated bracelet with sakuras engraved into it. "Wow, Yusuke. I-I don't know what to say..."  
  
"How about thank you?" Yusuke suggested teasingly, smile spreading on his face.  
  
"Thank you," Keiko declared, taking Yusuke's advice. She gently picked up the bracelet and slipped it on, metal feeling cold against her sun warmed skin.  
  
~!End Flashback!~  
  
That day stood out vividly in Keiko's mind, even against all the other special days she had had in her life, that one had been the most enjoyable. A romantic backdrop, and everything. Hey! What a minute. She wasn't supposed to be thinking things like that. Sighing softly, Keiko walked faster to catch up with her friends. She had fallen behind in her musing and now her friends were a good half block in front of her, still conversing about the dance. "Think Keiko might get asked by Yusuke?" one of them asked, grinning. Aoi, Keiko thought.  
  
"I think so, Keiko likes Yusuke and Yusuke seems to adore Keiko," another answered. Hikari, Keiko noted.  
  
"Stop it guys. It's Keiko's life, we shouldn't meddle in it," the third interrupted. Thanks Kimi, Kieko mused in relief.  
  
~  
  
There's the first chapter. I know it's short, but give me a break. The rest of the chapters will be longer, I hope. Now, I must finish my homework. 


	2. Confrontation

**There are bad words in this chapter. Read on your own risk. **

**Pyro****: Just a couple of –**

**Be quiet! *shuts Pyro up***

~

                "Urameshi-"

                "Shuddup Kuwabara. I'm not gonna fight you today," Yusuke answered before Kuwabara could finish.

                Yusuke sure wasn't going to have the weekend spoiled by petty punk fights with Kuwabara. Including, he had a think of an excuse for how he got the bracelet, since Keiko would probably ask. _And the top of the growing cake of discomfort in Yusuke's stomach, he had that dance to worry about. Was he supposed to ask Keiko? Or did Keiko ask him? The guys were supposed to ask the girls, but girls can ask boys, right?_

                "Yo, Urameshi, you 'kay?."

                "Huh?"

                "You zonked out on me, Urameshi," Kuwabara explained matter-of-factly.

                Yusuke cast a half-hearted glare at the inferior fighter. "Shuddup ya fool," he ground out, thinking he had caught a bit of light brown hair drifting around the corner. _Light brown, he thought about the words. __No, he concluded after a few moments of thought, __Hazel's a better word. _

                "Urameshi, you zonked out again." Kuwabara sounded annoyed this time. "Do you bother to pay attention to anything 'cause I sure as hell know you don't listen in class."

                "You pickin' a fight or something Kuwabara?"

                "I never said that but I can whoop your ass easy."

                "Then why haven't you done so?" Yusuke asked with a challenging tone.

                "Because I couldn't think of a-"

                "All you people think about is fighting, fighting and fighting. Don't you every get tired of fighting?"

                Yusuke and Kuwabara looked up to see a group of 4 girls, one they both recognized as Keiko Yukimura.

                "Uh, um, well we…" Yusuke's explanation trailed off at the laughter sparkling in Keiko's brown eyes. _No, it's hazel, Yusuke thought, unable to quell it down._

                "Yusuke?" Keiko reached out a hand to touch his green clothed shoulder, momentarily forgetting that he wasn't wearing the appropriate uniform.

~

**I shall leave it at that! *evil cackle* I'm a cruel writer.**

**Pyro****: Ugh. That's not fair!!!!**

**Stop acting like a rabid Yusuke/Keiko fan and shuddup.**

**Pyro****: *shuts up***


	3. Tift

**Wow, just two chapters and you people have posted 10 reviews. I wonder if I'll get any flames. *looks around with a fire extinguisher***

**Pyro: *sigh* She's a weird person, Kira is.**

***glare* You're talking, Pyro****.**

~

            Yusuke jumped at the contact, chocolate eyes going wide. Keiko, startled by the sudden movement stumbled back onto the pavement. "Yusuke, you scared me." Her tone was almost scolding, but didn't hold the usual sternness.

            "Sorry." He truly didn't mean to scare her, but things happened and – The trail of thought was left uncompleted. Funny, he was tingling inside. He didn't like that feeling, but it was familiar.

            "Urameshi, you keep on zonin' out!" Kuwabara yelled in his ears. 

            Yusuke winced, feeling his ears ring uncomfortably. "Why you little bastard! I outta – "

            "Ahem."

            Yusuke felt a bit of heat slip onto his tanned cheeks.  He shouldn't be blushing. Blushing wasn't something a juvenile delinquent should do. So why was he blushing?

            "I really don't see why you two insist on fighter over the minutest problems. I'm sure you two could learn to get along." Keiko's voice was exasperated and there was no doubt she would _make them get along, even if she had to throw them into a storage house and lock them in there for the next two years, no matter how inhuman it sounded._

            The two bickerers stood; mystified at the sudden burst of emotion from someone who usually kept her emotions in check, unless you counted her anger at Yusuke ditching her and other things like that.

            "Keiko, don't you think we should get going? You promised to help me with my homework," one of the girls spoke up timidly, smiling shyly at Keiko and the two boys she had been conversing with.

            "Sure Kimi," Keiko answered, turning away from Yusuke and Kuwabara, grasping her school bag with both hands.

            Kimi was a pale girl, black-blue hair making her face seem paler. She wore the usual blue, sailor-girl school uniform and she carried the usual black, mini-suitcase school bag with silver clasp. "Great. I've been having trouble with that geometry question." The girl made a face. "I don't like math."

            Keiko laughed good-naturedly. "Of course, I don't exactly like that subject either Kimi," Keiko confessed.

            "Really?" Yusuke was incredulous. Keiko was supposed to be the 'perfect little teenager that listens to the teachers' but here was Keiko admitting she didn't like math. 

            "You aren't exactly Mister Perfect either Yusuke," Keiko replied, trying to add a stern tone but failing.

~

***peaks from around a corner* Don't rush me. I know it's a cliff hanger but I need time.**

**Pyro: *sigh* *pushes Kira***

**AHH!! *looks around and gets away before anyone can stone her***


	4. Interlude

***is still looking for flames* You can never be too careful but thanks ****Keiko Urameshi and Jen, Yusuke didn't get a heart attack cause I'm saving that for later, but it involves school work once more.**

**Pyro****: *sigh* Yeah, she hates –**

***shushes Pyro up* Don't let the plot bunnies get out of their cage.**

**~**

            As Keiko, Kimi and the others had left; Kuwabara socked Yusuke in the cheek. Yusuke, too busy staring after the girls was caught off guard and was knocked to the sidewalk.  "You little bastard!!" Yusuke hopped up and punched Kuwabara in the gut before realizing Kuwabara was laughing, despite the pain in his stomach.

            "Oh God, Urameshi – "

            "One more word and you'll get a beating so bad you won't be able to get out of _bed let alone fight anyone."  The threat was real, even Kuwabara could tell that much about his friend/rival._

            "Jeez, you're so uptight."

            "I said – "

            "Hey, hey. Calm down Urameshi. It's not like I just yelled to the world that you liked Keiko."

            Yusuke once again felt heat spread across his face. "Damn you Kuwabara!!" People on the street turned to stare at the two delinquents before shaking their heads and going back to their business. Typical middle school behavior. From not so typical middle school students. But hey, nobody's perfect.

            Kuwabara, despite knowing what would happen, suddenly burst out laughing at Yusuke's expression. He dangerously teetering on one foot and a little flick from Yusuke was all that was needed to send the taller boy down, but Yusuke decided to punch in with disastrous(for Kuwabara) consequences.

            Kuwabara was sent tumbling into the road, sobering from his laughing outburst. And luck would have it, there were no cars.  'Damn, no cars. I was hoping he would get run over like me, but would stay in Rekai', Yusuke thought bitterly, glaring at a celebrating Kuwabara. ' Next time this kind of thing happens, Kuwabara won't be so lucky. I swear it on the untouched piles of homework from when Keiko managed to catch me.'

_~!Flashback!~   _

_'Six months(?) since training with Genkai and I haven't gotten any homework', Yusuke thought with relief. He wasn't counting the times he didn't attend school since that was pretty much everyday.  Keiko hadn't stopped by his house to deliver homework(or schoolwork) so the boy was home free.  Well, was home free. _

_Luck would have it, Keiko finally brought him the homework and news that nearly killed him, again._

_"Yusuke! Yusuke! I brought the work you missed, skipping school and whatever junk you do," Keiko announced one day, intruding into his room carrying a large stack of papers._

_Yusuke stared, half because of Keiko's unusual wording and also because of the size of the pile. "Um, I'm supposed to do all of this? When's the deadline?" 'Like I care,' Yusuke thought, glaring at the papers with contempt. 'I'm sure as hell not going to do that stuff.'_

_"It's due in two weeks, Mrs. Kayami let you off easy," Keiko answered matter-of-factly, striding out of the room to carry in another, slightly smaller stack of papers._

_"Ugh!" Yusuke's mouth dropped. How could he have missed so much in just six months with the added vacation of five weeks from skipping school? "There's no way I'll be able to finish all that in two weeks! Are you people mad?"_

_Keiko glared at Yusuke, teacher's little helper mood in full force. "If you hadn't skipped –"_

_"I didn't skip school on purpose!" Yusuke protested quickly, feeling his stomach do loop-de-loops from lying to his best and sometimes only friend._

_"Either way you have to finish this and the two piles outside."_

_Yusuke hopped up from the futon and peeked around the door frame. Sure enough, two stacks of papers were nestled next to the door, lines and typing on the pages staring up at him ominously. "Oh Kami-sama!! Save me from his hellhole." Yusuke headed to the window, planning on opening it and jumping out before realizing that wouldn't do any good. He'd probably just be brought back to life again or kept cooped up in Rekai while his friends (and Keiko) were out having fun. Scrunching his nose up at that idea, Yusuke slammed the window closed._

_"And Yusuke, some of my friends and I were going to get a milkshake and some ice cream after school tomorrow, wanna come?"_

_Good thing Yusuke had closed the window, or else he definitely would've tumbled out. Why would Keiko and her crew of friends invite him?__ The worse punk in school?? Maybe it had been completely Keiko's idea. Yeah, that made sense, now if only he could calm down his heart, everything would be perfect…_

_!~End Flashback~!_

            Yusuke was brought back to life when pain blossomed in the back of his skull. Kuwabara, obviously freaking out when Yusuke didn't answer his jeers about his rotten luck, had roughly pushed him into the cold brick of the fence behind him. Anger instantly replaced any notion of pain when Yusuke realized this and he quickly retaliated.

~****

**A nice piece of work, right? *looks around for hands* Um, right?**

**Pyro****: *raises hand just to help boost confidence***

**Yay****!! *huggles Pyro and anyone else that raised their hands* Thankyee. Thou better wait or thou will not read the next chapter. Now ye get out and play, thee should not waste vacation time.**

**Pyro****: oO I never knew she talked like a Quaker.**

**Shuddup****. *grabs Botan's oar and whacks Pyro like Botan whacked Yusuke for looking at her through the Spy Glass***


	5. Homework

****

Kira: -blink-

Aiko: -gulp-

Pyro: -glare-

Torin: Well, it can't be because we cut off the chapter right?

Kira: Probably is.

Torin: -sigh-

Kira: This chapter centers on Keiko, and I will _not_ be righting a fight scene. Sorry, but that's not what I do.

Pyro: You've been around Aiko too long.

~

Keiko stared down at the numbers, letters, and equations in her notebook, unable to make sense of them today. 'This can't be because of Yusuke, right? I mean—'

"Keiko, will you help me with this question."

Keiko wearily nodded, glancing down at the lined sheets of the notebook. Doodles covered most of the whiteness, drawn and colored in with gel pens and rollers. Brilliant colors made the lines, unlike the regulation black and the heading was done with vermilion. Black chicken-scratchings were the only evidence that the book was used for school. Keiko quickly found the problem that was causing her friend trouble since eraser marks marred some of the equation. "You should multiply before dividing and then you have to carry down the numbers."

Aoi nodded, brushing her red hair behind her ear and taking back her notebook. "Thanks Keiko. I probably would've failed if it hadn't been for you last year."

Keiko nodded, not really paying attention. Now that she had figured out her friend's problem, she had to finish her own. Tapping a pencil against her lips, Keiko stared down at the equations, blinking when they started to swim in her line of vision.

Sighing in frustration, Keiko stood and closed her notebook. "I'm going done to get a bread roll, want anything?"

The three girls doing their homework shook their heads, keeping their eyes on the notes in their notebooks. Keiko nodded heading towards the door and jerking it open. She walked down the corridor and down the stairs. She sauntered toward the kitchen, picking up a roll on her way in and a bottle of water on her way out.

"Back," Keiko murmured as she walked back into room and set down her burden onto the desk. She resettled onto the ground and started on her homework once more. Her mind had cleared so the problems no longer haunted her, but her train of thought kept on wandering back to her wayward crush, Yusuke. She shook her head rapidly. 'I can't believe I'm going gaga over him _now_,' she thought bitterly as she felt her face begin to heat up. She quickly bowed her head so her friends wouldn't notice.

"Keiko—" Hikari stopped when she felt the warmth coming from her friend. She bit her tongue as she felt a tease grow in her throat. 'I'm not going to tease my friend about a stupid crush,' she told herself with scorn. 'I won't. I won't. I won't.'

"Hikari, what is it?" Keiko asked as she felt the blush recede.

"Nothing," Hikari answered quickly, sitting down again.

Keiko nodded, turning back to her own homework and jotting down the answers.

Outside, Botan sat on her oar, in her usual pink kimono, lavender eyes alert. 'Another normal day in the life of Keiko Yukimura,' she thought, observing everything. 'Now, how am I supposed to get Yusuke and Keiko together at this rate?'

~

**Kira: Er, yeah.**

Pyro: I don't wanna know.


	6. Teasing

**Kira****: *wince***

**Aiko****: *bites her lip***

**Pyro****: *sharpening claws***

**Draake****, Torin, Yuli: *doing whatever***

**Kira****: *sigh* Oh well, we aren't doing anything so move on.**

**~**

            Yusuke was about to punch Kuwabara when he thought better of it. God help him if he had attacked.  Looking around momentarily, he spotted the flash of black cloth. "Hiei –"

            "Huh, where's the shrimp?" Kuwabara had recovered and was looking around for the 5 foot tall demon.

            "Right here," Hiei replied from his position on the brick fence Yusuke had been pushed against.  "It seems _you_ are doing well, detective. I can't say much about the oaf over there though."  Hiei gestured subtly at Kuwabara.

            "Who are you –"

            Yusuke drowned out the rest of the one-sided argument by humming a song in his head. He didn't even know he was also humming it aloud until he was interrupted during the chorus. "Hey, Urameshi, what'cha hummin'?"

            "Huh? Humming?" He turned to meet the gazes of Kuwabara and Hiei. "Uh, just a song…I heard…on the radio."  The sentence was broken and Yusuke was quickly trying to cover his hesitation.

            "Why would you listen to the radio? I bet Keiko made you, didn't she?"

            "No! Er, uh, no, she didn't." Yusuke fidgeted now. "It was just –"

            "Oh, I know. It's that song from when you and Keiko were in third grade and she had to sing for the play thingamabober, isn't it?"

            "No!"

            "Bet it is!"

            "Shut up Kuwabara!"  Yusuke punched Kuwabara in the face, face turning red with embarrassment and anger.  "SHUT UP!  SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"  He accented every 'shut up' with a punch until Kuwabara was on the floor, groaning.

            Hiei rolled his eyes at the spectacle.  "Oafs."

**Kira****:  It's short, I know, but let it be,  I finally updated atleast!**


	7. Demon

**'Nother update.  Be happy.**

~

Both boys turn to glare at the koorime, talking at the same time.  "Kuwabara's the oaf!"  "Urameshi's the oaf!"

            "Both of you are oafs."

            Before Kuwabara could yell out anything, Urameshi asked an _'important'_ question.  "If you're here, where's Kurama?"

            Kurama jumped from a nearby tree, landing on the fence.  "Here.  Now, Hiei and I wished to speak with you about a topic of great importance."

            "Eh?  What would that be?"

            "About Keiko…"

            "Well, what about her!"

            "Well, Koemna was re-sorting his records, especially on Ningenkai and found something unusual.  Until now, there have been no such people known as 'Yukimura'."

            Yusuke's eyes widened before he grinned easily.  "What about her mother's name before they got married?"

            "Nothing."

            "So?  What does it mean anyway?  It's not like Keiko's the daughter of demon fugitives, right?"

           There was silence as Yusuke waited with bated breath before shaking his head.  "No.  No way.  Keiko's a good girl.  Even if she was a demon, she'd never…"

            "Look at these."  Kurama tossed Yusuke a folder, prim and neat.  The tab read _Demon Occurrences_ and Yusuke gulped.  If Kurama had given him this, then it was big.  He opened it with shaking fingers and was greeted with a picture.  The camera lens had been splattered with drops of greenish liquid, and the normally white edges of the photo were red with human blood.

            Two demons were shown in it, the male with a clawed hand in the chest of an oni and the other faintly glowing with an unholy greenish black aura.  But the strangest part of all was a little girl with hazel eyes in the corner, smiling happily and clutching an overstuffed teddy bear to her chest.

            "The girl in the corner is Keiko.  The others are her mother and father.  The green blood is oni blood and the edges are red and crinkled because of the humans they had to kill to get the photo back."

            "But Keiko didn't participate in the killing."

            "But her simply being there is like physically killing them."

            "What?"

            "Keiko's ability, as a demon, was to make her opponents slow witted and stupid in the time of battle.  Even as a child, that was her talent."

            "You're, you're kidding Kurama.  Right?"

            Hiei rolled his eyes.  "Keiko's waking up.  Koenma and his fools are keeping an eye on her, not only for your sake but for the sake of Ningenkai.  You should keep an eye on her as well."

            Yusuke nodded numbly.  _Keiko, a demon?  No, it was impossible.  Keiko was Miss Goody-Two-Shoes, she couldn't be.  Keiko was Miss Goody-Two-Shoes and so, Keiko was not a demon._

~

            Kurama and Hiei walked away from Yusuke and Kuwabara in silence until they were out of earshot.  "She was special, you could tell before you even knew her, couldn't you Hiei?"

            "Hn."

            "I see."

            "I still find it surprising."

            "She's only half-demon.  And that should come in useful."

            "Hn."

~

            **I realized this fic lacked the usual demon ass-kicking found in Yu Yu Hakusho and decided add something of a shocker.**


	8. Exterminator

Yusuke sighed as the two demons left him with Kuwabara who was still gawking at the photos and files in the folder. If Keiko was a demon, what was he supposed to do? It wasn¡¯t like he could just turn around and shoot her in the back with his Spirit gun or anything. After all, he had yet to see her do anything wrong.

¡°Hey, Urameshi, look at this.¡±

¡°What is it _now_, Kuwabara, I¡¯m think—¡± Yusuke¡¯s voice faltered at the photo, eyes going wide, ¡°—ing¡¦¡±

It wasn¡¯t a particularly interesting photograph, all it contained was a teenage girl, maybe fourteen or fifteen, with long brown hair in a braid, dressed in a black ceremonial kimono with golden roses woven into the sleeves. In the corner, in neat, orderly kanji ¡®To whomever it should concern, Yukimura Keiko, demon exterminator¡¯ was written.

¡°If Keiko¡¯s a demon, why is it marked ¡®demon exterminator¡¯, eh? Urameshi? Are you listening to me!¡±

Yusuke wasn¡¯t, instead, he was walking away, in the same direction as Hiei and Kurama, hands stuffed in the pockets of his uniform. This whole thing had better be a good fabricated lie, he thought angrily, clenching his teeth. Because it sure as hell, isn¡¯t normal.

~

Hiei was the first to turn and look back, sensing Yusuke¡¯s growing spirit energy. ¡°So, the oaf found the other picture.¡±

¡°It seems so.¡±

¡°They probably didn¡¯t look on the back.¡±

¡°Probably.¡±

¡°Che.¡±

~

Kuwabara flipped the photograph over where he found a small envelope, smaller than the 1¡¯ by 1¡¯ photo and a short message. _As I may not return from this journey for my parents, I leave my will and my life¡¯s story behind for those who are curious. Sayonara, Yukimura Keiko._ He opened the envelope, pulling at a wad of papers.

The first was made of thick parchment, the words not only in Japanese but English as well. Kuwabara glanced over it before shredding it up expertly. He did it often with his failed test papers. The other paper, Kuwabara was more interested in.

¡°If anyone should find this and is curious, my name is Yukimura Keiko, demon exterminator,¡± he read aloud. ¡°This is my story. The story of a demon exterminator without parents. A story every person in the world can follow only because of the basic emotions shown in it. This is my story.¡±


End file.
